Thursday, July 19, 2012

Keeping it clean! Canvas & fabric

This week sees the second in our series of 'Keeping it clean' blog posts and we're focusing on canvas and fabric shoes. (Ah, the irony, as the rain teems down outside).

Although this post is really written for shoe wearers, here's a brief reminder to all of you shoemakers out there to cover any fabric, canvas, suede or nubuck shoes you are working on as soon as you have them lasted.

Wash and dry your hands thoroughly before you start lasting and try to avoid touching the upper so that you don't transfer the 'steel' stains from the nails to the upper).

Once you have lasted one shoe, heat and stretch your shoe covers over it.

Then repeat for the second shoe.

Check that there are no holes in the cover and that there is nothing caught between the upper and the cover on the inside!

Finally, add an extra cover around the top of the last if there are any gaps to seal the upper totally

Now, for those of you flying off to find some sun, your vacation shoes will certainly need a clean when you come back to remove the sand and sangria!

The best approach, as with most things, is to protect them BEFORE you wear them. Here's how:

Spray with a special fabric protector - I use upholstery spray on my resort shoes works well - to provide a protective coating, making splashes and stains easier to remove

Spray with a starch spray to help the fabric to keep its shape and stay looking new for longer

The next is common sense, but slightly tricky with the current weather forecasting, sunny in the morning followed by monsoon rain, a bit more sunshine, grey cloud, drizzle, blazing sunshine... don't wear canvas or fabric shoes in mud or rain, or traipse them through puddles.

But if you do fall foul of the sangria here's how to get tough stains out:

Use carpet shampoo to clean heavily stained fabric or canvas (do a test first on a small area in the inside waist).

Froth up to a lather and then scrub with an old toothbrush. Allow to dry.

Clean off everyday marks with a cloth dipped in water. Once the fabric is clean, rinse away the soapy water with a clean cloth that has been wrung out in warm water. Then sponge the shoes dry.

Until next week when the Olympics kick off, happy shoemaking and happy holidays!